Boy dies at Disney from heart condition

The death of a 4-year-old boy after he went on a rocket-ship ride at Walt Disney World was caused by abnormal cardiac rhythms from a heart condition that he apparently had since birth, according to an autopsy released Tuesday.

Daudi Bamuwamye, the son of a United Nations worker from Uganda, died after riding "Mission: Space" in June. He had an abnormality of the heart muscle called idiopathic myocardial hypertrophy, with fibroelastosis of the left ventricle, the Orange County Medical Examiner's Office said.

The $100 million (Ђ85.7 million) Epcot ride, one of Disney World's most popular, was closed after the death but reopened after company engineers concluded it was operating normally.

"Mission: Space" spins riders in a giant centrifuge that subjects them to twice the normal force of gravity, and it is so intense that some riders have been taken to the hospital with chest pain, the AP reports.

Along with Bamuwamye's death, there have been two other tragedies at the resort this summer.

A 16-year-old British girl almost died of cardiac arrest after riding the "Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" in July. In August, a 12-year-old American girl died after collapsing in a wave pool at Walt Disney World water park.
A.M.